


spoken unbroken

by Sorunort



Series: beetlesquip (be more chill + beetlejuice au) [2]
Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Beetlejuice AU, Gen, Human Jeremy Heere's Squip, Riverway (but its one sided for now), ly is kinda off the shits but thats what happens when u dont talk to someone to 100 years, river is ewm squip and ly is tamsquip, this isnt proofed because i dont care
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:01:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21822583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sorunort/pseuds/Sorunort
Summary: All you gotta do is say my name three times. Three times in a row it must be spoken unbroken. You ready? Okay, go.*a beetlejuice au because the soundtrack is a bop and i like to smash my hyperfixations together
Relationships: Jeremy Heere's Squip/Jeremy Heere's Squip
Series: beetlesquip (be more chill + beetlejuice au) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1566220
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	spoken unbroken

**Author's Note:**

> ly finally makes an entrance hoo boy

River might’ve been a bastard but he was a sexy one. To think Ly went through all the trouble of helping him out just for River to get cold feet at the very last second. Unbelievable. And for something as dumb as ‘ _I don’t want to scare the kid, he’s already sad_ .’ So _what!_ All humans were sad. They cry and then they die. That’s just how life worked.

Or so Ly thought. He was never alive to begin with so what did he know?

The plan was simple: make sure the recently deceased River didn’t go to the Netherworld (check!), teach him all the cool ghost tricks to scare humans (check!), and then scare the people who just moved in into saying his name three times (un-check). Simple enough and _all_ River had to do was follow through but no. He couldn’t even do that. _Whatever._ Ly hoped he enjoyed rotting in the attic for all eternity because without some chalk and the handbook thats where he would stay.

It still hurt to have his chance dangling in front of him and be ripped away without a second thought though. This had been Ly’s last hope. A last ditch effort to no longer be invisible to the world of the living. To be acknowledged and _seen_ . He enjoyed, or enjoyed as much as a demon with no real emotions could, talking with River and just knowing a soul could actually _hear_ him. After all it had been eons since he last spoke to someone- let alone a real hunk. Oh, the _things_ they could’ve accomplished together. All the people they could have scared. Running away in fear and quaking in fright. Now _that_ would be _romantic._

But it would never be all because River went and betrayed him. Stupid sexy bastard.

Ly laid around on the roof of the house. At first he sat at the very top of the roof but over time he slowly rolled down until the only thing preventing him from rolling off the house was the gutter. So he just laid on his stomach with one arm dangling off the side limply. He should have left after their fight but where else could he go? Back to the Netherworld? No, fat chance of returning there. Ly may be invisible to everyone but the world of living was infinitely better than the world of the dead. Well, a lot of things were better than that void given how it was an _actual_ void.

He let out a long hum and swung his arm back and forth, staring into space and contemplating his options when a figure pulled him from his melancholy. Ly picked his head up as the kid River refused to scare wandered into the backyard. He looked every bit as depressing as River said too. But why was he out here now? The sun had already gone down and there wasn’t anything of interest in the backyard.

Except for. Y’know. The demon laying on the roof half in the gutter.

The boy just stood in the yard holding himself for a minute until he sank down into the grass and curled up. His figure trembled as he pulled his knees to his chest and wound his hands into his hair.

Ly watched him for a minute or two, waiting to see if he would do anything else. But he didn’t move or make any sound beyond a faint hiccup now and again. Ly let out a descending whistle. “Wow. I did not think he could get any more depressing.” Going outside to cry at night? What is this, some kind of teen drama on Netflix?

The boy tensed. He picked his head up and scanned his immediate vicinity in the yard. He mumbled something but Ly couldn’t make out the words. Probably wasn’t important.

Ly heaved a long sigh and pulled himself up and out of the gutter. “Maybe you’re right, kid.” He said to himself and swung his legs over the roof absently. “Tonight’s one of those sit-and-cry-under-the-moon nights.” 

Now he all out flinched and looked around wildly, falling back on his hands and turning around. Then a most unexpected thing occurred.

The boy looked at Ly.

“Hello?”

Their eyes met.

If he had a functioning heart it would be pumping right now. “...Hello?”

The boy slowly got to his feet and gestured to the roof. “W-What are you doing up-up there?” He fumbled, holding his hands tight to his chest.

Ly could hardly believe what was happening right now. He was invisible in the world of the living and that was an indisputable fact. No matter what he did or tried the result had always been the same. Ly accepted it but set out to change it and the only thing he needed was for a living person to say his name three times.

Against all odds and reason a living boy could see him. Right here. Right now.

The words were stuck on his tongue before Ly forced them out. “Can you-- see me?”

The boy looked taken aback and shifted uncomfortably. “Y-Yeah you look like s-some kinda anime supervillain.”

Ly gasped, pressing his clawed hands over his mouth.“You _can_ see me!” He said, his hands fell away to press over where a heart would be. “I’m gonna have a new best-” Bursting with excitement Ly sprang up and threw their arms to the side. “ _Friiiieeend!_ ” Ly sang and a small firework erupted from the chimney. Only the _best_ presentation for anime supervillains. If there were an audience present they would be going nuts right about now.

Right. No time to waste. His plan was back on track. “So! Living boy,” Ly said and proceeded to walk down the side of the house as if gravity didn’t exist. “What are you doing out here?”

The boy yelped at the demon performing a _very_ cartoonish action and quickly stepped back to gain more distance. Not that it would help him. Ly already reached the grass and didn’t stop until he was in front of the boy. “I-I just--” he stammered, eyes darting around the yard. Looking for an escape route perhaps? _Adorable._ “I just needed s-some alone time.”

“Trying to get away from someone?” Ly guessed, putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder. The boy squirmed and shrugged it off. “I feel the same way. Just had a big fight with my ex. Well, he’s not really my ex, we were never together, but we could have been--” Oh, if only. But none of that mattered right now. Ly put his hands over his chest and leaned down at eye level with the boy. “Y’know what would make us both feel better? Saying my name. Three times.”

The world might as well have been spinning what with how utterly lost the boy looked. “I’m-- Sorry, you- _what?_ ”

Ly’s shoulders sagged. “Don’t make me beg, cause I’ll do it.”

“No, I-I don’t under-” His eyes widened with realization and he stumbled backward. “Wait, you’re the guy River warned me about, aren’t you?!”

Oh this took a _spicy_ turn. Ly blinked trying to register what he was hearing. “Sorry, kid, did you just say River? As in the sexy ghost in the attic?”

“ _Sexy?_ ”

“I know what I said, answer the question or say my name.”

The boy sighed and looked hopelessly up to the sky. “Y-Yes? Yeah, it’s the guy in the attic, whatever, he--” The boy made a wide side step around Ly who’s eyes followed his every move. “River told me y-you wanted me out of the house s-so I think I’m just gonna-”

“No, no, don’t move!” Ly reached for the boy but the movement startled him. The boy immediately ran back for the house. Ly hissed under his breath and rolled his eyes. Should’ve just gone down the begging route.

Before he could even grab the backdoor Ly manifested out of the ground blocking his path. “Look, just hear me out-”

The boy yelped and jumped now that his escape route was cut off. “I don’t wanna listen to a word you say!”

Ly continued as if the boy wasn’t even protesting. “I’ve been invisible for _so long_ and I just need a living person to say my name if I wanna be seen. Surprise-surprise,” Ly gestured in a wide circle around the boy topping it off with jazz hands and a toothy grin (probably not the best idea considering he had fangs and the kid was already scared). “You’re a living boy! So if you catch my drift…” Ly clapped his hands together and batted his eyes for emphasis.

With no immediate escape route the boy let out a long and frustrated sigh. He bit his lip and shrank into himself like if he tried hard enough he could disappear into his blue cardigan. “W-Why should I?” He grumbled, not making eye contact.

“I’ll, uh, do whatever you want?” Ly offered half heartedly. “Look, I’m desperate, if there’s anything you want, I'll do it.” Ly traced an X over his chest with a long clawed finger. “Scouts honor! C’mon kid, what’ll it be? Money? Girls? One particular girl, how about that Audrey?”

He shook his head vigorously and splayed his hands out in a stop motion. “No! No, this is crazy! I can’t just-- just make a deal with t-the devil or _whatever_ -”

“Demon, I’m a demon. Devils are _completely_ different.”

The boy huffed and _actually_ made eye contact. Getting feisty now, huh? “I don’t even know your name!”

Ly deflated like a balloon. The biggest hindrance to his plan being that, “I can’t say it.” and having to go through all the trouble of getting others to do it for him. Whoever wrote that plot point had another thing coming for making this so difficult.

“Can you, like…” the boy shrugged and tugged his cardigan closer. “Write it out o-or something? Why am I even _telling_ you this--”

“Oh, great idea!” Ly perked right up. He spun around, his coat swinging with the motion, and began carving the letters into the side of the house. The claw left behind a faint orange glow like it were burning the letters into the siding. Five letters later he was all finished with a sloppy carving at the ready. Ly stepped aside and threw his arms out in presentation. “Ta da!”

The boy blinked hard at the faintly glowing letters, tilting his head and mouthing the name silently. “S… Squip…? _That’s_ your name?” He said in disbelief, doing a double take at the demon.

Ly leaned against the house and propped his arms behind his head. “It’s my middle name. My first name is Ly,” he said with a grin and snapped his fingers. The carving disappeared like someone pressed the rewind button and the letters all vanished the way they came. “Point is, you gotta say my name three times in a row. Spoken unbroken. Ready to do that?”

“I-- Uh, no?” The boy looked between the wall where the letters once where and back at Ly, confused, but he shook it off. “I’m not doing that!”

“Why not?”

“I don’t trust you!”

“ _C’mon_ , you can _totally_ trust me!”

“I just met you.”

“Then just ask River! He’ll vouch for me being a cool and totally trustworthy and devilishly handsome guy,” Ly winked and pulled himself away from the house just to usher the boy inside.

After having his exit blocked off to suddenly open again the boy did a double take and hurriedly walked a few paces ahead of Ly. As if that might shake him off but that was just wishful thinking. “What? River literally said you wanted him to scare me!” He pointed out, heading for the staircase.

Ly tailed right behind him like he was his shadow. “It’s nothing personal, kid, I would’ve asked him to scare whoever came through that door. It just so happened to be you and your pops.” Oh, now _there’s_ an idea! “Hey, wait, kid, you wanna-”

The boy stopped halfway on the stairs and spun around. Ly had to stop himself from crashing into him. “Stop calling me kid!” He demanded. “My name’s _Jeremy_!”

Oh. He really got this far without knowing just who exactly this boy is, huh? Not that it would make a difference and he was fine calling him kid but _Jeremy_ didn’t think so. Ly tilted his head. “Jeremy. Jeremy. Jeremy. See how easy that is? Now you try with me.” Cue another wide fanged smile.

Jeremy groaned and turned back up the stairs. “You’re ins-sufferable.”

“Aw, don’t be like that. We can be friends! Best friends. Of course,” Ly stopped walking only to levitate instead. He laid on his stomach in the air and kicked his feet up while he propped his head up in his palms. “If you wanna see your actual best friends again I could do that.”

They made it to the top of the stairs when Ly finally piqued Jeremy’s interest. He spun around, eyes wide (only to wrinkle them in confusion at the levitating monochrome demon before brushing it off) with hope. “You can help me get home?”

In theory, possibly, but was Ly actually going to do that? Probably not. Was he more likely to open a door to the Netherworld and kick Jeremy inside after he said his name? Probably. But he nodded with that same smug grin anyway. “Sure, I can whip open a portal to wherever you want and drop you off. It’s _goodbye_ Connecticut and _hello_ wherever-the-hell-you-came-from!” Ly waved one hand around in a circle and little sparks flew off his fingertips for extra flair.

Jeremy hesitated, glancing behind him at the red attic door, back to Ly, and then down at himself. He fiddled with his fingers and whined, “I don’t… I-I don’t really know about-about this, Ly…”

This is good. He could work with this. Jeremy gave him an inch, Ly just had to take that inch and run with it. Dropping down back on his feet Ly got at eye level with Jeremy. He worked a finger under his chin to meet his eyes and frowned. “There’s someone you miss back home, isn’t there?”

Jeremy tensed up at the contact and recoiled ever so slightly but nodded slowly. “All my friends are there. Without them, I’m--… I’m not…” he trailed off, staring off into a corner and he batted Ly’s hand away.

Ly clicked his tongue sympathetically and patted him on the head. “I understand, boo,” he cooed, softly running his hand over the brown locks. “It’s tough feeling lonely. When you have no one else to turn to and it feels like the world is closing in on you. It’s not fair. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Jeremy nodded sadly. “Mm…” He wrapped his arms around himself. “I didn’t wanna move, but-but my dad insisted it’d be good for us.”

“Has it been?”

“No…” Jeremy mumbled.

Ly exhaled and slid his hand off Jeremy’s head and onto his shoulder. “I can make it better. But you know what you have to do, Jeremy,” he said. “Think of your friends, your home, where you truly belong.”

Jeremy stared at him with owlish eyes, mouth hung agape as the breath caught in his throat. He hesitated then swallowed, steeling himself as his hands balled into fists. “...Squip.”

Ly nodded, keeping a calm exterior but on the inside he was ready to burst from anticipation. “Go on.”

He could feel Jeremy tremble under his palm. “Squip.”

Ly might’ve been trembling too. “One more.”

Jeremy inhaled sharply and the attic door swung open. He flinched and whipped around while Ly snatched his hand back like it had been burned. River stood there looking befuddled as ever, glancing between Jeremy and Ly as he put the pieces together. He scowled at the demon in question.

“Ly, you stay away from him!” He barked. River turned his attention to the teen, holding his hand out. “Come here, Jeremy,” he said with less bite than he did to Ly.

Jeremy did a quick take between Ly and River before rushing to River’s side. River immediately wrapped one arm over his shoulders and stepped aside to guide him into the attic. However Jeremy just peeked out from behind River.

The demon cracked a grin and snapped a fingergun at the ghost. “Hey you beast you, what’s shakin ' bacon?”

River wasn’t having any of it, which Ly expected. “Don’t get Jeremy wrapped up in whatever you’re scheming.”

Ly blew a raspberry and planted one hand on his hip while the other gestured to the teenager hiding. “Sorry babe. He’s already wrapped in it by being alive and seeing me sooo,” he clicked his tongue with an exaggerated frown. “Tough cookies. Now if you’d kindly stand aside--”

Before he could finish River rolled his eyes with a scoff and slammed the attic door shut. Ly grimaced and stared at the red door for a minute in silence before he let out a grumble. Betrayed once again by his not-boyfriend. How infuriating. Ly chewed on his lip and pointed at the door. “Fine, _go_ , hide away in there! You can’t hide him forever, River!” 

Ly threw both his arms up and turned back to the stairs in a huff. Just leave him all alone, it didn’t matter! So _what!_ He had already been alone this long, what’s another night in solitude? He made it about halfway down before sitting on the steps with his head in his hands. He stared at the ground silently and let out a long sigh and while his head hung low.

Right. All alone again. Invisible once more.

So close.

**Author's Note:**

> hey check out my beetlesquip au doodles on my tunglr  
> https://sorunort.tumblr.com/post/189617380716/beetlesquip-squeetlejuice-thinking-sketch


End file.
